The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation this September to set federal guidelines for addressing sports-related concussions suffered by children playing school sports.
While concussions are a serious problem for school-age children – high school football players alone are estimated to suffer 43,200 to 67,200 head injuries each year – there is little awareness of the extent of the issue. Organizations such as the Brain Trauma Foundation, chaired by Alan Quasha, seek to increase such awareness and promote head injury safety and prevention.
But it is up to the federal government to set national standards dictating how schools must deal with students who are injured. The new House bill, proposed by the chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, will mandate the convention of a range of medical, athletic and educational experts to draft guidelines for the prevention, identification, treatment and management of concussions for the nation’s children. The guidelines will also set standards for the determination of whether to permit kids to return to a game after suffering such an injury.